My game’s name is “Rob1E”. I’m using 4.6 github source. I’m trying to figure out how to manually build:
UE4Editor-Rob1E.dll.
So far the only way I can update this for my team is to delete the existing .dll from the build folder and then double-click on my .uproject file. It will then ask if I want to build.
So far I haven’t found any configurations in the visual studio project that let me kick this build of by hand. In fact all of the visual studio configurations seem to make .dll files that use the naming scheme [Game Name]-[BuildType]
Have recent versions of the UE4 allowed you to update your project through Visual Studio without having to delete the existing .dll from the build folder?
Please let us know if this has or has not been resolved.
I started looking into this issue this morning, and I am a little confused. Are you saying that the UE4Editor-Rob1E.dll file does not get updated when you build the project in Visual Studio?
I built 4.6.1 from source code, then created a new code project using the first person template and named it Rob1E. I built the project in Visual Studio (Development Editor - Win64). When I checked the Rob1E/Binaries/Win64 folder, the UE4Editor-Rob1E.dll file was there. I deleted the file and built the project again in Visual Studio, and the file was re-created. I then made some edits in the project’s code and built it again. The file was updated as expected (reflected by a new Date modified timestamp on the file). None of this is working for you? Could you provide an example of your workflow where you expect this file to be updated and it is not?
, I think what I didn’t explicitly mention is that I use the DebugGame profile(s) most of the time because of the numerous debug check messages that crash the editor in engine code. Building DebugGame or DebugGame Editor produces UE4Editor-Rob1E-Win64-DebugGame.dll, instead of the file my team needs checked into source (UE4Editor-Rob1E.dll).
Maybe this is part of the confusion. I want my team using the DebugGame DLL so that I know the dumps they’re reporting are my problem. But the binary editor only wants to use the dll generated from the development editor build.
Thank you for the additional clarification. What you are trying to do is possible, but not quite exactly the way you are doing it. When you delete the UE4Editor-project.dll file and then open the project in the Editor to have the .dll file rebuilt, the resulting .dll file is essentially the same as what you would get if you built the project in the Development Editor configuration in Visual Studio. You may not be using all of the debug symbols that you think you are using.
If you want to be able to open the project in the Editor and still have all of your debug symbols available, it takes a little bit of setup.
Open a Windows Explorer window and navigate to your project’s root folder (where the .uproject file is located).
Right-click on the .uproject file and select the “Create shortcut” option. This will create a shortcut to the .uproject in the same folder.
Right-click on the new shortcut and select the Properties option.
In the Target field of the properties window, you will see the file path to where the .uproject file is located.
At the very beginning of the Target field, add the file path to where the UE4Editor.exe file is located, within double-quotes if there are any spaces in the file path (this path may be different for each person on your team). Make sure there is a single space between the file path to the UE4Editor.exe file and the file path to the .uproject file.
At the end of the Target field, separated from the file path for the .uproject file by another single space, add the -debug parameter.
The Target field should end up looking something like this: "D:\Epic Games\4.9\Engine\Binaries\Win64\UE4Editor.exe" "D:\Unreal Projects\TestDLL\TestDLL.uproject" -debug
Click Apply and OK to close the Properties window. The blue Unreal icon should change to a Black unreal icon at this point.
Double-click on the shortcut to open the project in the Editor. This will use the UE4Editor-project-Win64-DebugGame.dll that is created when you build the project using the DebugGame Editor solution configuration.
When the game opens in the Editor, note in the top-right corner of the Editor that it shows the name of the project, followed by [DebugGame]. This will be using all of the debug symbols that you are expecting to have.
Once this setup is completed, using the new shortcut should work fine (unless the file path for either the UE4Editor.exe or .uproject file changes) with the debug .dll file that you are creating in Visual Studio.